


even better than a fairy tale

by Dawn_Blossom



Series: Chrobinweek2018 but it's all Chrom/Grima [7]
Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: 'welcome back it's over now' but Chrom's saying it to Grima, F/M, Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-20
Updated: 2018-10-20
Packaged: 2019-08-04 20:01:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16353326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dawn_Blossom/pseuds/Dawn_Blossom
Summary: Chrobin Week 2018: Day 7 - Prompt: Happily Ever AfterAfter everything, Grima wakes up in a field.





	even better than a fairy tale

**Author's Note:**

> Anybody else not ready for Chrobin Week to end? This is such a fitting prompt to go out with, though.
> 
> And hey, look at me, finally writing f!Grima ^^ I swear I love her just as much as m!Grima, it's just... I'll imagine a story with one Grima or the other, and so far, well... None of my f!Grima ideas have come to fruition ^^;;;
> 
> But anyway, yeah, I'm super excited to give f!Grima some happiness, too. 
> 
> Title is from [Better Than a Fairy Tale](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJyYeZL-BBM) by Galen Crew.
> 
> So... I hope you enjoy this final Chrobin Week fic! (Don't worry, you'll be seeing me again soon... Like, in about a week when I post my Grima/Vampire!Chrom fic ^^)

It’s the perfect fairytale ending. The evil dragon is defeated, the kingdom is saved, the people rejoice. The queen disappears for a while, but then she comes back to life; the story can’t be a tragedy, after all.

And they all live happily ever after.

At least, it could have happened that way. If fairytale endings existed.

“Welcome back,” Chrom says, smiling. “It’s over now.”

A laugh escapes Grima’s lips.

“Over?” she repeats. “Do you think that gods die so easily, Chrom?”

She almost laughs again as confusion twists Chrom’s features.

“I killed the Grima from the future,” she continues. “I killed the body of the dragon from this timeline. But just whose soul do you think inhabits this body?”

“You’re… Not Robin…?” Chrom says, like he can’t even grasp the idea.

“Robin was a lie! A mere fragment of my mind!” Grima snaps. “Now that I am whole, I… I…”

Her words fall away. She is so powerless in this form. The dragon is gone. She will never return to her full power. All she has is her soul and this body. She is a human, nothing more.

Nothing more… The monstrous chimera formed of dragon and human blood, the beast born of human hubris, the miserable creature that should not have existed, is no more.

So why does Grima remain?

She falls to her knees, never mind that she just got up. It no longer seems important to stay upright.

“I shouldn’t be here.” The truth escapes her in a whisper. She was not strong enough before to destroy the world, but she does not think herself strong enough now to bear its ills. Either the world cannot exist, or she cannot. And she has already lost, so the answer is clear. The universe has made a mistake in returning her; she should have died with her future self.

“Don’t say that!” Chrom insists. He drops into a kneel beside her. “Everyone told me you were dead, but I couldn’t accept it. I could feel it, I knew… Because we’re halves of a whole, and I would know if the other half of me were truly gone. You’re here because this is where you belong, Robin…. My love…”

“Chrom…” Grima places a hand on his face. It isn’t as though she doesn’t love him… She did marry him, after all. Robin may have been but a sliver of herself, but that sliver was perhaps the truest part of Grima’s heart. “I’m… sorry.”

Even without her power, it seems she only knows how to bring despair. An ideal world would have sent Chrom his wife back as she left him. Even coming back with no memories would have been better than this. But no, fate cares nothing for the beings it toys with, and so Grima exists now as the worst possible version of herself, satisfactory to no one.

“Don’t cry…” Chrom says softly. He brushes away the tears that are beginning to spill down her cheeks. “None of this was your fault.”

He doesn’t understand at all. _Everything_ is her fault. Long ago, she decided to deal with humanity’s selfishness by being the most selfish being of all. Of course her plans would end in failure. She deserves every horrible thing that has happened to her. 

But Chrom doesn’t. The Shepherds don’t. Why has she been sent back here to torment them?

“I know it’s a lot to take in…” Lissa says gently. “I don’t know what it was like for you this past year, but we… We missed you so much…”

Lissa’s eyes begin to water, and Grima’s heart sinks further. What agony it must have been to return home after a victory yet feel hollow… To go back to the way things were before the war when “before” included a Queen of Ylisse. To have a family only to lose it…

Grima gasps.

“Lucina,” she whispers.

“Our baby is growing,” Chrom says. “Our future daughter has been helping with her, and so has Morgan, but… They aren’t her mother. She’s just getting old enough to ask about you.”

Grima grits her teeth. She has a terrible choice to make. She knows she shouldn’t be here, and yet… It is not only her life that is affected. Her heart has already spoken for her, and now it is only her mind that can hold her back.

“But I’m Grima…” she says. “I always have been and I always shall be. How can Ylisse ever possibly welcome me back…?”

“Because it’s your home,” Chrom says. “It belongs to you as much as it does to me. Don’t forget that it was your own sacrifice that brought peace to us. It’s high time you get to share in it.”

“That’s right, I…” She was ready to die, because her heart knew for ages what she was too afraid to accept. “I wanted to see a better world.”

“And you will,” Chrom says. “Come home with us now. You’ve worked hard for your happy ending.”

Chrom offers out his hand again, and Grima takes it as they rise together. 

Life certainly is not a fairytale. But sometimes, there are still happily-ever-afters.


End file.
